Tata Sons cancels stake sale in TTML
Tata Sons Ltd on Friday confirmed that its decision to cancel its offer for sale (OFS) of shares in its subsidiary Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd.
The OFS was announced on Wednesday, when Tata Sons said that it would sell a total of 51,623,679 shares, or 2.72 per cent of the equity capital of the Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd, on May 17.
But, the company yesterday confirmed that it had cancelled the sale. In a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), the company said, "Tata Sons Limited has now informed BSE that they have decided to cancel the sale in full."
Prices of several life-saving drugs to drop by up to 80%
The prices of several life-saving medicines will soon fall by up to 80 per cent in India, thanks to the government's new drug price control order.
Issued by the union government, the long-pending drug price control order has paved the way for the implementation of pharmaceutical pricing control policy across the country. It is expected to reduce the prices of drugs on an average by 20-25 per cent, and some cancer drugs by up to 80 per cent.
BMC urges traders to call off strike over LBT issue
The Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) on Thursday urged traders to call off their strike in opposition of local body tax (LBT), stressing that it was open for discussions over the issue.
Municipal Commissioner Sitaram Kunte said that the traders' stir against LBT, which entered the 26th day, was causing a big inconvenience to the citizens.
Speaking on the topic, Kunte said, "The Mumbai Municipal Corporation Act, 1888 needs to be amended to introduce LBT in the city. We are still drafting amendments to the Act and rules based on which it would be executed."
India’s demand for gold jumps 27% in Q1 of 2013
While the global demand for gold declined 13 per cent in Q1 of this year, India's demand for the precious yellow metal jumped 27 per cent year-on-year, according to latest figures released by the World Gold Council
(WGC).
Indians' demand for jewellery jumped 15 per cent year-on-year to 159.5 tonnes in the first quarter of 2013, while investment demand climbed a whooping 52 per cent to 97 tonnes.
China reported gold demand growth at 27 per cent. Therefore, India's demand growth for the yellow metal surpassed China's demand growth by 7 per cent.
No LPG for households that have multiple connections: IOC
Households which have multiple LPG (cooking gas) connections and where the obligatory Know Your Customer (KYC) norm has not been completed will not get cylinders (including non-subsidised) from June 1, Indian Oil Corporation (IOC) warned in a press release.
Public Sector Undertaking IOC said, "No transactions, including delivery of non-subsidised cylinders, will be permitted in such cases once such connections have been blocked."
Oil marketing companies, viz. IOC, BPCL and HPCL, have shared their customer data in order to identify households that have multiple LPG connections.
Overseas firms look past weakness in Indian economy
Global firms are making huge investments in India's consumer market, despite the overall weakness in the Asia's third-largest economy.
In the recent past, consumer goods giant Unilever announced its decision to invest $5.4 billion to increase its stake in its Indian arm Hindustan Unilever Ltd.
Available figures suggest that foreign companies collectively spent around $9.86 in mergers and acquisitions in India this year. The figure is the highest in Asia.
Chennai-born Mittu Chandilya to pilot AirAsia’s India operations
AirAsia's CEO Tony Fernandes on Wednesday revealed the identity of the person who will pilot the Malaysian airline's India operations.
Fernandes, the promoter of AirAsia, had announced in March that the airline had selected a very smart boy from Madras, with an amazing CV, as the CEO for AirAsia India.
Revealing the identity of the AirAsia India CEO, he yesterday said the CEO is 32-year-old, Chennai-born Mittu Chandilya, who is currently based in Singapore.
Security breaches at Indian IT companies are rare: NASSC
The National Association of Software & Services Companies (NASSC), the IT industry lobby group, has argued that security breaches at Indian payment card processing companies are rare.
Many foreign companies as well as security analysts retriggered concerns over the risks of outsourcing financial services to Indian companies after the recent breach of security at two payment card processing firms in India.
A few days back, U. S. prosecutors said a gang of cyber criminals stole nearly $45 million from two Middle Eastern banks by breaking into India-based two card processing companies.
Sebi wants Etihad to make open offer for stake in Jet: report
The Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) is likely to ask Etihad to make an open offer for Jet Airways, which is not going down well with the foreign airline as it is not comfortable with the disclosures required when making such a move, reported CNBC TV18.
Etihad alst month agreed to buy 24 per cent stake in Jet Airways for Rs 2058 crore. The agreement was hit following long discussions and several hurdles.
Retail inflation finally slips to below double digits
After staying in double digits for four months in a row, India's retail inflation slipped to 9.39 per cent in April. In March, retail inflation was recorded at 10.4 per cent.
The core consumer price index (CPI) inflation, which excludes food and fuel, slipped from 8.7 per cent in March to 8.2 per cent in April.
Ranbaxy Laboratories to pay $500M in fines
Pharmaceuticals giant Ranbaxy Laboratories on Monday pleaded guilty to felony charges related to drug safety and agreed to pay $500 million (nearly Rs 2,740cr) in fines as part of its settlement agreement with the US Department of Justice.
The Justice Department also ruled that Dinesh Thakur, the whistleblower in the case, was entitled to $48.6 million (nearly Rs 266cr).
Mr. Thakur, former global head of research information & portfolio management at Ranbaxy, had alerted the country's healthcare authorities about the flawed manufacturing practices at the drugmaker.
Bank of India Dropped its Net Profit to Rs. 757 crore in Last Quarter of Fiscal Year 2012-13
According to today's report, at the end of its fourth quarter on March 31, Public sector Bank of India (BoI) dropped its net profit at Rs. 756.57 crore which was Rs. 952.73 crore in the last quarter of last fiscal year. BoI also informed BSE in its filing that it has increased income of Rs. 9,265.55 crore at the end of March 2013 as compared to Rs. 8,777.73 in March 2012.
RBI Imposed Restriction on Gold Import
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) imposed restrictions on banks to import gold as it is putting pressure on the current account deficit. In the month of April, gold imports jumped as high as 138% which increased the worries of Indian policy makers. This step is taken in wake of the widened current account deficit that too at a record high of 6.7% of GDP in third quarter as higher imports of oil and gold were noticed in this period and low exports.
Decline in India's consumer price inflation
After seeing a decline in India's consumer price inflation, hopes have aroused that retail price pressure might get reduced. It is said to be the second consecutive time when the consumer price inflation has declined in April.
The decline in India's consumer inflation has brought a decline in wholesale inflation. This has forced the central bank to reduce their interest rates. RBI had to take steps despite the fact that it has been asked to bring such changes that can bring stimulate the economy.
Easy tips to manage credit card dues
Credit cards are easy to swipe for making payments for purchases anytime, anywhere in the world, but managing & repaying the dues is always a hard task. If you too facing the same problem, here are some tips to help you out:
Keep the basic terms in mind: You must keep the basic terms, such as minimum-amount due, billing cycle and grace period, in mind as these terms will help you a lot in managing spending as well as repayment patterns. Surpassing the grace period could result in heavy interest costs.
Govt. may retract 4G spectrum from BSNL, MTNL
The government can retract 4G spectrum from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) and Mahanagar Telephone Nigam Limited (MTNL) and refund them nearly Rs 12,846 crore that the two state-run telecommunication giants had paid in fee to the government.
Sources from the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) have revealed that the department has prepared a note on the issue of revival of BSNL and MTNL. The note will be discussed by the group of ministers
(GoM).
SIAM: Car sales in India dropped for sixth consecutive month in April
According to the statistics released recently by the Society of Indian Automobile Manufacturers (SIAM), the sales of passengers car in India witnessed a decline during the month of April; marking the sixth consecutive monthly fall in car sales in the country.
Pointing out that the drop in car sales is apparently an upshot of sluggish economic activity, high financing costs, and increased fuel expenses, SIAM said that the total sales of cars in India during the month of April stood at 1,50,789 units.
Jayalalithaa urges Centre to withdraw diesel-price hike with immediate effect
Reacting strongly to the Centre's recent announcement of a 90 paise per litre hike in diesel price, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa said in a late Friday statement that the diesel-price hike was `unfair,' and demanded an immediate withdrawal of the price increase.
Urging the government to retract the latest diesel-price hike with immediate effect, Jayalalithaa said that the move was totally uncalled for; and drew attention to the fact that the increase in the diesel prices had been announced even after there has been a fall in the cost of crude oil in international market.
Jubilant Foodworks posts 11.52% rise in net profit: shares slip
Jubilant Foodworks, the operator of Dunkin Donuts and Dominos Pizza brands in India, on Thursday reported a year-on-year increase of 11.52 per cent in net profit for the quarter ended March 31 this year.
The company announced that its net profit jumped to Rs 32.17 crore in the January to March quarter, from Rs 29.33 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.
Net sales jumped from Rs 282.95 crore in the final quarter of 2011-12 to Rs 365.75 crore in the same quarter of 2012-13.
India’s headline inflation expected to have eased further in April
India's wholesale price inflation is expected to have dropped for third month in a row in April, thanks to eased core inflation and declined fuel costs.
All of the twenty-six economists polled by Reuters this week ruled out a month-on-month increase in headline inflation for the last month, with projections ranging from 4.46 per cent to 5.96 per cent.
As per analysts' average estimate, India's wholesale prices probably jumped an annual 5.50 per cent in the month of April, down from 5.96 per cent in March. The projected increase represents the slowest pace since November 2009.